BCS Shakeup: Which 1-Loss Contender Benefits the Most from Oklahoma State Loss?

Oklahoma State University endured one of the toughest days in its long history on November 17th.

It started out with the heartbreaking revelation that a small plane carrying women's basketball head coach Kurt Budke, assistant Miranda Serna and two others had crashed the night before on a recruiting trip to Arkansas, killing all on board.

This was the second time in the last 10 years a plane had gone down carrying members of the OSU basketball program.

The plane wreck left families, friends and a tight college community devastated and searching for answers. Prayers from all over the country are reaching out to those in Stillwater affected by this terrible news.

The day ended as the Cowboys second-ranked football team walked out of Jack Trice Stadium stunned by a double-overtime loss to the four-touchdown underdogs from Iowa State.

While the loss on the field was definitely a tough blow, it pales in comparison to the horrific tragedy that preceeded it. Football is, after all, just a sport and the young men will live to fight another day.

The loss also muddled the race for the BCS title game. This leaves LSU as the only unbeaten from a BCS conference along with a long list of one-loss teams fighting for position.

Which of these contenders now has the best chance to play for the National Championship after the Oklahoma State upset?  

Clemson Tigers

Clemson is a long shot.

The Tigers must win out in the ACC, have a strong showing in the conference championship game and hope every other contender ahead of them loses at least once more.

Odds of making the title game: 80:1

Arkansas Razorbacks

Arkansas got a big boost in their championship aspirations with the Oklahoma State loss.

For the Razorbacks to make the title game a couple of things must happen.

First, they must go into Baton Rouge and beat top-ranked LSU on the road.

Don't laugh. Arkansas has beaten LSU in three out of the last four matchups, including an overtime road victory in 2007, the year the Bayou Bengals last won the title.

Arkansas beat LSU 31-23 last year and that was a large margin of victory considering how close these two teams normally play each other.

Next, both Oregon and Oklahoma must lose another game. This is possible, but highly likely.

Odds of making the title game: 40:1

Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma's title hopes suffered a big blow when Oklahoma State went belly-up in overtime.

No matter what ESPN is saying, Oklahoma had the best chance of making the BCS Championship Game of any one-loss team.

If the Sooners were to win the Bedlam game, that season-ending victory would have almost certainly put them in the Top 2 of the final BCS rankings.

A road win against a second-ranked Cowboy squad on the last day of the season combined with another road win against Robert Griffin III and Baylor would have given OU the best resume by far of all the one-loss contenders.

Now it will come down to what carries the most weight with the pollsters: quality victories or an inexplicable defeat. 

They may still finish with the best strength of schedule, but that home loss to a Texas Tech team that has since been shut down like a green-energy company is likely to be the pooh in the pudding that keeps the Sooners out of the title game.

Stoops' Troops must win out and hope both Oregon and LSU lose down the stretch.

Odds of making the title game: 20:1 

Alabama Crimson Tide

The Oklahoma State loss was a huge win for the Crimson Tide.

Alabama may not make the SEC Championship Game and only two teams that have not won their conference have played for the title, the last being Oklahoma in 2003.

While the majority of fans outside of the South are not overly excited about another LSU/'Bama field goal-fest, ESPN and the polls have a man-crush for all things SEC.

Alabama does not have the best resume of these contenders but they do have the easiest remaining schedule, the best defense in the country and the marketing power of the most powerful network in sports lobbying for them.

If LSU wins out, it may come down to the question if enough pollsters will allow two teams from the same conference to play a rematch for the championship.

Odds of making the title game: 5:1

Oregon Ducks

Oregon is another team smiling ear-to-ear after the Cowboys loss.

The Ducks lone loss of the season was a 40-27 defeat in the opener against top-ranked LSU. Since that game, Oregon has basically destroyed their competition.

The question is how much of that success is because they have not played the toughest competition?

Outside of a win against Stanford, none of Oregon's victories to date have been of the marquee variety.

If Oregon beats USC and wins the Pac-12 Championship Game, they will finish the season on a 12-game win streak with all of their quality victories coming down the stretch.

While the Ducks have a harder remaining schedule than Alabama, they also have a better opportunity to pad a resume that is short on quality victories.

Plus, Oregon has the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately mentality working for them and gives voters the option of not allowing two teams from the same conference to play for the title.

Odds of making the title game: 5:1